According to the dark side it was a flame out (probably hovering downwind...known jetranger issue), then an auto into the water. Of course, we don't actually know, but that makes sense, particularly as they were on a fishing trip and probably scoping out the "good spots".

Flame out in a trusty ole JetBanger due to hovering down wind .......28years in this game with over 5,K hours in JetBoxes & have never ever heard of it????? Must've be flying under a proverbial rock all this time but ready to learn sumting new

I have heard of there being a problem when flying rearwards at 20kts or faster in the JR!!! Then you may cause flame out. I haven't found it in the manuals, or if it is an old pilots tale, or whatever. (edit: not saying that i believe it!!! just that i had heard it.)

Pretty keen to be taking a JR that fast backwards anyway... not my idea of fun!

Last edited by SuperF on Mon Mar 20 2017, 19:20, edited 1 time in total.

rotors99 wrote:Flame out in a trusty ole JetBanger due to hovering down wind .......28years in this game with over 5,K hours in JetBoxes & have never ever heard of it????? Must've be flying under a proverbial rock all this time but ready to learn sumting new

Further...I doubt that my mates imagined what happened to them, and just like I share my bad stories with my friends, they shared with me. The quick (and violent) rejection of my comments above caused me to check the sanity of my mates. A quick search on the internet has many stories like this one.

On Sept. 14, 2002, near Rochester, Mass., the pilot of a Bell OH-58AT, converted to civilian use by Garlick Helicopters, made numerous successful lifts into the wind with loads of cranberries before moving on to a new bog. On the first lift there, the pilot hovered the helicopter about 12 ft. above the ground with a left quartering tailwind while the ground crew secured a 900-lb. cargo basket to a 15-ft. sling load line. Once the load was secured, the pilot maneuvered the helicopter forward, dragging the cargo basket. There was a loud pop sound, and a foot-long jet of flame fired from the left exhaust pipe. The pilot jettisoned the load and the helicopter pitched up. At that point, the main rotor blades severed the tail boom, and the main rotor assembly separated from the helicopter. The helicopter crashed to the ground and rolled onto its left side. The pilot, who had 4,000 hr. in the OH-58, was killed. There were no obstructions that would have impeded him from departing into the wind. The NTSB determined the probable cause of the accident included the pilot's improper decision to attempt a takeoff with a quartering tailwind, which resulted in an engine compressor stall.

I'm not a LAME, but my logic cannot see how a downwind hover would cause a flameout?? I'm not precious, so happy to be corrected.

My logic says that the intake does not require it to be "rammed" into the turbine and as air is all around us, whether we are hovering downwind or not, it should not flameout as the engine will "suck" in enough air??

I can understand there is risk of overheating due to lack of airflow over cooling components and aerodynamic issues (LTE, VRS), but I can't join the dots to a flameout.

I think you mean ingesting exhaust gases and it is a known issue for turbine helicopters in general, though more in the context of compressor stalls, rather than flame out as such.

As for it being a likely cause of accident, stranger things have happened but I'd favour that other old over flogged horse, LTE as a much more substantial hazard.

On this accident in particular, who knows, but I'm glad they got out ok. I'm sure they tore the backside out of their trousers just as badly as they tore up the bum of the machine though, I've never seen a fuel bladder exposed quite like that before.....